GM wants to double car output in Venezuela - Chavez

August 01, 2012|Reuters

CARACAS, Aug 1 (Reuters) - U.S. automaker General Motors Co wants to more than double its production of cars and autoparts in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday.

Hailing it as one of the first examples of benefits fromVenezuela joining the Mercosur regional trade bloc on Tuesday,Chavez said he was presented with a plan by senior GM executiveswhile he was in Brazil for the ceremony.

Asked to provide journalists with the details, Venezuela'sIndustry Minister Ricardo Menendez said GM planned to increaseits production of cars in the country to 120,000 units per year,up from almost 50,000 now.

Menendez said the company also planned to increase itsproduction of auto parts, for Venezuela's domestic market andfor export to neighboring Brazil and the Caribbean.

Chavez added that French automaker Renault hadalso expressed an interest in building cars in the SouthAmerican nation. The socialist president gave no other details.